18 April

1025    Bolesław Chrobry is crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland

1480    Lucrezia Borgia (born), Italian daughter of Pope Alexander VI (died 1519)

1506    The cornerstone of the current St. Peter’s Basilica is laid

1521     Trial of Martin Luther begins its second day during the assembly of the Diet of Worms. He refuses to recant his teachings despite the risk of excommunication.

1552     John Leland (died), English poet (born 1502)

1567    Wilhelm von Grumbach (died), German adventurer (born 1503)

1587    John Foxe (died), English historian and author (born 1516)

1590    Ahmed I (born), Ottoman sultan (died 1617)

1605    Giacomo Carissimi (born), Italian composer (died 1674)

1648    Jeanne Guyon (born), French mystic (died 1717)

1666    Jean-Féry Rebel (born), French violinist and composer (died 1747)

1674    John Graunt (died), English demographer (born 1620)

1689    Bostonians rise up in rebellion against Sir Edmund Andros.

1732     Louis Feuillée (died), French astronomer, geographer, and botanist (born 1660)

1738    Real Academia de la Historia (“Royal Academy of History”) is founded in Madrid

1759    Jacques Widerkehr (born), French cellist and composer (died 1823)

1772     David Ricardo (born), English economist (died 1823)

1775     American Revolution: The British advancement by sea begins; Paul Revere and other riders warn the countryside of the troop movements.

1797    Adolphe Thiers (born), French historian and politician, 2nd President of France (died 1877)

1802    Erasmus Darwin (died), English physician and botanist (born 1731)

1819     Franz von Suppé (born), Austrian composer and conductor (died 1895)

1831     The University of Alabama is founded

1857    Alexander Shirvanzade (born), Armenian playwright and author (died 1935)

1857    Clarence Darrow (born), American lawyer (died 1938)

1863    Linton Hope (born), English architect and sailor (died 1920)

1881     Billy the Kid escapes from the Lincoln County jail in Mesilla, New Mexico.

1882    Leopold Stokowski (born), Polish-English conductor (died 1977)

1898    Gustave Moreau (died), French painter (born 1826)

1899    The St. Andrew’s Ambulance Association is granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria.

1901     Al Lewis (born), American songwriter (died 1967)

1902    Quetzaltenango, the second largest city of Guatemala, is destroyed by an earthquake.

1904    Pigmeat Markham (born), American actor, singer, and dancer (died 1981)

1906    An earthquake and fire destroy much of San Francisco, California.

1909    Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome.

1912     The Cunard liner RMS Carpathia brings 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic to New York City.

1916     Carl Burgos (born), American illustrator (died 1984)

1917     Vladimir Serbsky (died), Russian psychiatrist (born 1858)

1922    Barbara Hale (born), American actress

1923    Yankee Stadium, “The House that Ruth Built”, opens.

1924    Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown (born), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2005)

1924    Simon & Schuster publishes the first crossword puzzle book.

1934    George Shirley (born), American tenor

1935    Jerry Dexter (born), American voice actor (died 2013)

1936    Ottorino Respighi (died), Italian composer and conductor (born 1879)

1936    Tommy Ivo (born), American actor and race car driver

1940    Mike Vickers (born), English guitarist, saxophonist, and songwriter (Manfred Mann)

1942    Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (died), American sculptor and art collector, founded the Whitney Museum of American Art (born 1875)

1942    Jochen Rindt (born), German-Austrian race car driver (died 1970)

1942    World War II: The Doolittle Raid on Japan. Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe and Nagoya are bombed

1943    World War II: Operation Vengeance, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is killed when his aircraft is shot down by U.S. fighters over Bougainville Island

1945    Ernie Pyle (died), American journalist (born 1900)

1945    John Ambrose Fleming (died), English physicist and engineer, invented the vacuum tube (born 1849)

1945    William, Prince of Albania (died) (born 1876)

1946    Hayley Mills (born), English actress and singer

1946    Skip Spence (born), Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape) (died 1999)

1946    The International Court of Justice holds its inaugural meeting in The Hague, Netherlands.

1947    James Woods (born), American actor and producer

1949    The keel for the aircraft carrier USS United States is laid down at Newport News Drydock and Shipbuilding Company. However, construction is canceled five days later, resulting in the Revolt of the Admirals.

1954    Gamal Abdal Nasser seizes power in Egypt.

1955    Albert Einstein (died), German-American physicist (born 1879)

1958    A United States federal court rules that poet Ezra Pound be released from an insane asylum.

1961     The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, a cornerstone of modern international relations, is adopted

1963    Conan O’Brien (born), American actor, screenwriter, producer, and talk show host

1980    The Republic of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) comes into being, with Canaan Banana as the country’s first President. The Zimbabwe Dollarre places the Rhodesian Dollar as the official currency.

1981     The longest professional baseball game is begun in Pawtucket, Rhode Island – The game is suspended at 4:00 the next morning and finally completed on June 23.

1983    A suicide bomber destroys the United States embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 63 people.

1988    The United States launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in the largest naval battle since World War II.

1998    Terry Sanford (died), American politician, 65th Governor of North Carolina (born 1917)

2002    Thor Heyerdahl (died), Norwegian ethnographer (born 1914)

2007    The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in a 5-4 decision.

2012    Dick Clark (died), American television host and producer, founded Dick Clark Productions (born 1929)

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EO Smith

Interests include biological anthropology, evolution, social behavior, and human behavior. Conducted field research in the Tana River National Primate Reserve, Kenya and on Angaur, Palau, Micronesia, as well as research with captive nonhuman primates at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and the Institute for Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya.
EO Smith
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